A complete Mess

Fran

The person who looks after a child the most is the main carer, that could be someone has them for four nights and the other parent for three. The person who looks after the child for four nights would be seen as the main carer. Having said that, it depends who is claiming Child Benefit. If the care is truly equal (nights wise) then either can claim. The Ch Ben rules are that you have to care for the child 28 days out of 56. The person receiving Ch Ben will get Child Tax Credits if relevant. They also would only have to work 16 hours to be entitled to WTC. The other person (I'm going on your situation in two seperate households) would be classed as the non-resident parent and treated as a single person. Unfair, but that's how the rules work at the moment.

I don't think anyone has any gripe with people claiming WTC if they are entitled, it's the fact that you appear to be trying to see which situation is best on paper and then pretending (fraud) that you are in a different one eg. thinking of saying you are a couple.